Ten Days and No Where to Be

Sitting here on a Sunday morning reading ride reports and decided to post up a 10 day ride I put together about 3 weeks ago. I had 10 days off and wanted to get one last trip in before the weather turned here in Bend, Oregon. Looking for a destination I decided that the Horizons Unlimited gathering in Cambria, Ca. would do. If I made it down there fine, if not, that was alright as well. Plan was to get to the Oregon coast and then ride south on US 1 with some side trips. Main one was I wanted to explore the Lost Coast area of California. Coming home I planned to cross over the Sierras and head north on the east side of the Sierras working my way home to Bend. Anytime you ride this far south in the pre-winter trips it's somewhat of a gamble as we can get an early snowstorm up this way. You guessed it.....we got one. I had great weather for 9 days of my trip. Last day not so much.

I digress though. Back to Day One. Trip was taken on a 07 WeeStrom. Great bike for the planned trip. Removed the Anakees I had been running and mounted up some Shinko 705's.

Headed to the coast. Basically pounded out miles until just east of Crescent City. Once I hit the Redwood Forest area I slowed down and started taking some pics and exploring some side roads.

Rolled into Crescent City right at dusk and started looking for a room. Some way too expensive. Finally found a little Mom-N-Pop place for $45 a night. Had planned to camp but it was almost dark and the skies weren't looking to good. Walked down to a local grocery store and purchased some sardines, crackers and a cold beer.

Up early the next morning and started south on US 1.

Kept working south and explored some side roads if they looked good. Love travelling like this. No where to be at the end of the day so if you see something you like. Turn and check it out. Some of the turns didn't work out. I hate going down a sweet road and running into this shit.

Stopped in a little town called Trinidad. Great little town with a restaurant right out on the dock. Checked out the old lighthouse in town and then had a great leisurely breakfast.

Driveway right outside the restaurant.

Trinidad Lighthouse

After to long screwing around in Trinidad headed south again for the Lost Coast and Shelter Cove for the night. First time in this area. Great backroads, little traffic, cool little towns, view and some fun gravel roads.

Some pics of the days ride enroute to Shelter Cove for the night. Shelter Cove is located along the Lost Coast and is an in and out road. After riding to a little town called HoneyDew started looking for dirt enroute to the main road leading in to Shelter Cove off of US1.

Great backroads to explore in the area. Was glad I put the Shinko's on rather than the Anakees once I got on this stuff.

Riding south of Eureka is not to be missed. South of Eureka you go thru Ferndale, Petrolia, Honeydew. The King Range is somewhere I certainly will return to. Could easily spend days in the area and not see it all. From Honeydew you can ride dirt all the way into Shelter Cove. Some great places to camp between Honeydew and Shelter Cove.

Rolled into Shelter Cove and since it was the off season figured I'd look for a room. Scored! Got a really nice room with balcony right on the coast....$60. Didn't see anyone else staying there at all. Most of the other places were shut down for the season. Guy running the place told me they get $225 during the high season. No way I'd pay that for a room. Did a little walk about out on the rocks at low tide and met a nice lady with the friendliest dog. I'm a sucker for dogs and seem to gravitate towards them.

Hey LilWan. Been following your epic RR. Not sure how you do it. This one will not be as good as yours. Where are you and BigWan headed off to next? Say hello to the BigWan for me. Check out the new toy. Just got it last week. Thing is a major hoot. Rode yesterday up in the snow. With the two wheel drive ..... no problem! Thinking about another trip to Death Valley on this thing ...... soon!

After walking around Shelter Cove it was time to find a place to eat. Everything was shut down for the season vice one small pizza place and a small mom-n-pop restaurant. Went in to the pizza place and the only size they had was super large.
Me: Can't you just make a small one?
Moron behind counter: No, we only have dough balls in the large size.
Me: Cut it in two and make a small pie
Moron: We can't do that we only have dough made up in the large size
Me: You are kidding right. Just cut it in two, slap some sauce and cheese on it.
Moron: We should have some smaller sizes tomorrow
Me: Have a nice day!
Didn't want that much so down the street a little way to the only other option. Super nice people running the place and was glad the moron in the pizza place couldn't quite grasp cutting something in two. Great wild salmon dinner with beer. A bit pricey but the conversation was good. Place was deserted so the owner/chef came out and shot the breeze. Learned alot about the area.

Left the following morning in fog thick as soup. Once I climbed up off the coast I got above the fog somewhat and was headed towards Usal Road. Came to an intersection which was a dead end dirt road that went back down to the coast at Sinkyone State Park. Debated whether to go back down in the fog but decided I'd check it out. Glad I did as it was a really cool road. In and out of the fog going down.

Really pretty road leading down to coast with some areas offering views. At the bottom you end up at a caretakers place. Hung out for awhile and shot the breeze. Great place to camp. As it was still mid morning I climbed back up and hit Usal road (gravel) which would eventually dump me out back on US 1 headed south. Lost Coast area is a must do if on the west coast.

Popped out on Hwy 101 at Garberville. Place is a trip. Stopped for something to eat and while sitting outside at a small deli watched the freaks roll by. Apparently this place use to be a major hippie town. From what I observed not many of them left. Lots of bums and hippies just kinda roaming around doing much of nothing. Talked with the deli owner and he says it's a real problem. Pretty area but not so sure I'd want to raise a family here.

Watched this guy roll a huge joint in the coffee shop and then step out on the sidewalk to enjoy. Took the shot by holding the camera at waist level. Not sure why I was worried about him seeing me. He was so stoned I don't think he would have cared if I'd of shoved it up his nose! Saw many people just lighting up on the street. I'm all for legalizing the stuff in order that we can tax it and make some money. This place is a friggin gold mine if they ever legalize the stuff.

I think he may have been living in this. :eek1

Back on the bike and headed south on US 1. Gorgeous riding along the coastline.

Met this young lady alongside the road. Had left Canada about six weeks ago and was headed to Baja. Fun meeting people like this and talking for awhile. I had ridden a bicycle across the country years ago so we discussed the merits of traveling by bicycle. I enjoyed it when I did it but not sure I'd do it again. I need an engine nowadays.

Kelly told me I should check out your new toy, It is really cool.
It's going to be a blast in Death Valley! I'd love to break one of those.

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What do you think BigWan....... could I get that Russian Piece of Shit over Swansea grade? Would love to go back up to the Tram Station on it. I don't think I could get up from the Cerro Gordo side. Too steep.

After spending too long talking with the biker headed to Baja I mounted back up and kept heading south. Plan was to go into San Francisco, hang out for awhile and take some pics. Weather was getting fairly hot and needed an extended break. Always interesting in SF. I could spend all day just watching the freaks and weirdos walk by. Place has got quite a few of them. Although maybe they think I'm the freak for riding around on a motorcycle. I guess it takes all kinds to keep it interesting.

Found a bar with some parking for bikes and just hung out for a couple of hours. Nice open air bar for a cold one and a great viewing spot.

Someone in SF doesn't like our postal service. Never have understood people that vandalize others stuff.

Hi boys. Nice purses.

Mounted back up and kept working south. Took a wrong turn somewhere and ended on the eastside of the city and traffic was bad. Had planned to get further south but only made it to Half Moon Bay.

Stayed in Half Moon Bay for the night and back on 1 early the next morning. Ended up in Monterey for breakfast. This is a really pretty town on the coast. Just south of here is Carmel with Pebble Beach golf course. As I use to be an avid golfer thought I'd check it out. Had seen it numerous times on TV and it didn't disapoint. It is a really pretty area and the golf course along the course is a golfers dream.

Saw this just outside of Monterey and did a U-turn to get a picture.

Monterey.....

Had been told about a scenic road called 17 mile drive which goes to Carmel. Multi-million dollar homes and a scenic drive along the coast. Decided to check it out even though it's a toll road. I pull up to the gate and park. Get off the bike to pay the toll and a security guard tells me I can't ride a motorcycle on the road. ?????????????? Told me they had a guy on a motorcycle get on the golf course, tore up a green and now bikes are banned. So I ask.....if a car had done that would you ban all cars? Those are the rules mister....you can turn around here. Guy was a real ass. As I'm mounting up a guy comes over to me and tells me to go back up the road a few hundred yards and there is a dirt trail that I can take and pop out below the guard shack that will put me on the scenic road. Guys says it's a stupid regulation because alot of the homes on the drive has people living there with bikes. I think they just wanted to keep riff raff like me out of there. Anyway, I find the path, pop back out on the road and had a nice cruise into Carmel. Plus as a bonus I saved having to pay the $9.00 toll.

Stopped at Pebble Beach and checked out some of the holes along the coast. Just like you see on TV. Guy in the parking lot told me it's like $275 to play a round. Yea right, like I'm going to pay that to play golf. Saw lots of people that appeared to have a friggin butt load of money.

Great RR so far! Did the coast north of SF to Ferndale, including Usal, Lost Coast, Sinkeyone, and Shelter Cove a month ago -- thanks for the pics and the memories!!

Guess I should get mine up...

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By all means. Post up those pics. We'd all love to see them.

Left Monterey and headed south to the Big Sur area. This to me is one of the prettiest sections along the coast. Had perfect weather but the traffic picked up quite a bit along with some road construction. Still an epic day of riding. Decided to go ahead and check out the Horizons Unlimited gathering.

Gonna jump ahead here a few days. I arrived at the Horizons Unlimited late Thursday and although it went thru Sunday I was really ready to leave on Friday but stuck it out until early Saturday morning as I'd paid for camping and some meals. Probably about 200 or so people, all of whom I met were really nice but it just wasn't my cup of tea. You can only look at bikes so long and I thought the talks/presentations were not very good. Guess some really like this type of gathering but I wouldn't go back especially considering the price. I'd much rather be out exploring and riding. I kinda hung out Thursday night and went to some presentations. Friday I got up and rode back up the coast to get some pictures of the elephant seals.

Met this couple from Germany doing a Round the World Tour. They were also at the HU gathering. They could really ride this thing. I was impressed at how well they could corner with it. Talked with them back at the gathering. Really interesting and nice couple.

Friday night decided that I was gonna take off the following morning and head east to the Southern Sierras and take a route I hadn't been on before. Was kinda watching the weather back home and figured I had about a 3 day window to get back. Really didn't want to slab on Interstate north and then cut over on Tioga Pass as I had done this several times. Friend of mine was also at the gathering and he left for home as well Saturday morning and took a more northerly direct route and made it. I cut it to close and would pay for it later but the next two days were great riding in some new areas I hadn't covered before. Headed east with Sequoia National Forest the destination for the day. Pouned out the miles until arriving in Springville. East of there the road starts twisting and climbing.

Rode across the souther Sierras up thru Camp Nelson and ended up north of Kernville on the Kern River. Found a closed campground and since the weather looked great opted to sleep on the picnic table vice setting up the tent.

What do you think BigWan....... could I get that Russian Piece of Shit over Swansea grade? Would love to go back up to the Tram Station on it. I don't think I could get up from the Cerro Gordo side. Too steep.

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I would say, it's a definite maybe
There is one hill going in from Swansea that is kinda steep and a wee bit loose. It's not as steep as the Cerro Gordo side, however there is less traction.
I would try it (especially on your bike),but I do lots of stupid stuff. One question. What's it like turning that thing around mid hill?

Popped out on Hwy 101 at Garberville. Place is a trip. Stopped for something to eat and while sitting outside at a small deli watched the freaks roll by. .....

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Ha, I had lunch at this very cafe not more than 3 weeks ago. I sat at the table where the gentleman in the green flannel is sitting. I did a quick 2 day trip from the Bay up into the Siskiyou's. Northern CA in the autumn can't be beet. The air is cool, the coast is pleasant, and the tourists are gone.
Ride safe.